Archery Tip: Stop Aiming!

Your pin is floating around the target and you try to steady it, but the darn thing just won't stop moving. You've been in full draw for a while now and as the pin makes a pass toward the middle you release your shot, but the arrow lands wide of the 10 ring. If that sounds familiar, this video is for you. All sights will have movement and it's impossible to force them to sit perfectly still in the middle of the target. All we can do is control the float and make it predictable. An ideal pin float would be a figure 8 around the middle of the target. It's going to be different for everybody, but as long as your pin is passing through the middle and then coming back to the middle again, passing through the middle and coming back to it again, that's all we need. Your mind is really good at lining things up and as long as that pin is going back and forth to the middle, that's perfect. Just keep your eyes focused on the middle and then focus on your shot execution. The key is don't let your desire to shoot a 10 every time control your shot. Instead, focus again on your timing and execution. Shot timing is the amount of time between when you start aiming to when you fire your shot. For recurve archers, ideal time is usually in a 3 second window. For compound archers, it's usually about 5 seconds. Now let's say you're aiming but you don't have that nice consistent float where the pin is floating around the middle. Okay, so if that's the case, you likely have a form issue or an equipment setup problem. Maybe your draw length is too short or too long, something like that. And so if that's the case, you need to get with an archery coach. Someone can watch you shoot and correct those issues. If you're just over aiming, we have a few drills that can help you get over that mental hurdle. The first is to draw your bow back, aim, so you're looking at the target, watching your pin float, and you're just going to hold back at full draw while you watch that pin float, you know, all around the middle, no big deal, just trying to relax and hold that full draw. And then when you get tired, let down. What you're doing there is you're teaching your mind that just because the pin is near the middle, you don't have to fire, and it's getting you more accustomed to just watching that pin float. Another drill is to shoot up close. So you take a 40 centimeter target, which is typically shot at 20 yards, and you would bring it closer, like 5 or 10 yards. So it's going to be much easier to hit the middle of that target. And again, it's going to relax your mind. It's going to take, you know, it's going to be much easier to aim at that closer, larger target face. And then what you can do is you can again focus on getting a good release off and good timing. So the next time you're at full draw for too long, don't worry. It's totally natural to have pin float and just focus on your timing, your execution, and you'll have much better results.